Eighteen Springs is a 1997 romantic drama directed by Ann Hui and starring Jacklyn Wu, Leon Lai, Anita Mui, Huang Lei and Ge You. It is a China-Hong Kong co-production, based on the novel of the same name by Eileen Chang. The film depicts the ill-fated romance between two Chinese lovers in Shanghai and Nanjing during the 1930s and 1940s, which destined them to be apart for more than a decade. The film marked the second time Hui directed an Eileen Chang adaptation.
Title
The novel was originally serialized in Shanghai’s Yibao in 1950–1951. Chang published a revised version in 1969 in Taiwan, shortening the length of the lovers’ separation from 18 to 14 years and changing the title from 十八春 to 半生緣. Although the film's English title retains the original Chinese title, the Chinese title uses the revised title of the novel.
Plot
Gu Manzhen is an educated girl, working in a Shanghai factory as a clerical assistant. Her elder sister Manlu, who works as a nightclub hostess, supports her family. At the factory Manzhen meets two male former classmates, Xu Shuhui and Shen Shijun, and the three become firm friends. Manzhen falls in love with the introverted Shijun, who hails from a wealthy family in Nanjing and is working in Shanghai because he does not want to inherit his father’s merchandising business. Unable to marry the man she loves, Manlu decides to marry wealthy, decadent playboy Zhu Hongcai. Meanwhile, Manzhen and Shijun encounter obstacles to their love. Shijun’s family opposes their relationship and tries to match him with a cousin, Shi Cuizhi. Manzhen quarrels with Shijun, and the two part unhappily. Manlu is unable to bear children. To keep her husband, she arranges for Manzhen—visiting overnight—to be locked in their mansion and raped by Zhu. Manzhen becomes pregnant and is kept prisoner in Zhu’s mansion, unable to contact Shijun. When Shijun arrives to see Manzhen, Manlu sends him away thinking that Manzhen has rejected his love because of their social differences. Manzhen escapes from the hospital after giving birth to Zhu’s son, and becomes a schoolteacher in another town. By the time she writes to Shijun, he has married Cuizhi. Cuizhi and her mother-in-law burn Manzhen's letters to Shijun. Many years later, a desperately ill Manlu tracks down Manzhen to ask her forgiveness. Before she dies, she returns Manzhen's biological son in the hope that Manzhen will raise him. Manzhen still hates Zhu, but decides to stay with him for the sake of their son. Fourteen years after their parting, Manzhen and Shijun meet again by chance at their favorite restaurant in Shanghai. The two catch up on each other's lives and realize hopelessly that no matter how much they still love each other, because of their other obligations they can never be together again. The film then flashes back to Shijun's search for Manzhen's missing red glove, which was when their romance began.
Cast
Jacklyn Wu as Gu Manzhen
Leon Lai as Shen Shijun
Anita Mui as Gu Manlu
Ge You as Zhu Hongcai
Annie Wu as Shi Cuizhi
Huang Lei as Xu Shuhui
Wang Zhiwen as Zhang Yujin
Liu Changwei as Fang Yipeng
Critical reception
Eighteen Springs was well received in Hong Kong. The film won Anita Mui the Best Supporting Actress award at the 17th Hong Kong Film Awards. Jacklyn Wu was nominated for Best Actress for her role as Manzhen. The film was also fairly well received in the West. Time Out magazine compared Eighteen Springs's "retrospective voiceovers" to Wong Kar-wai’s, calling it "visually lush and beautifully layered" and likening it to "a lyrical, poignant souvenir". Critics singled out Jacklyn Wu's portrayal of Manzhen for praise. In a comprehensive review, Shelly Kraicer compared Lai's performance to Wu’s and found him wanting: He praised Wu: Other reviews of Eighteen Springs focused on Hui’s extensive use of voiceovers.
